12 Aug 2015

Thuso Rehabilitation Centre (TRC) has been hailed for a positive impact on the lives of people living with disabilities (PLWD) in some parts of the country. 

The centre provides rehabilitation services for the disabled community in Ngamiland and surrounding districts with the aim to create opportunities for an independent life for people living with disabilities.

Speaking during the handing over of goods worth over P27 000 by Dunns Store, the senior regional manager, Ms Thembi Mothibi said the centre has created a supportive environment for people living with disabilities. 

The goods donated included clothes and shoes from Dunns Stores. Ms Mothibi noted that people with disabilities live, work, learn and contribute to society in the same way that people without disabilities do. 

She said people with disabilities were an important and valuable section of the society hence they selected the centre to demonstrate love and compassion by donating goods which would benefit students at the centre.

“Dunns is a fashion company and it deals with every individual despite disability hence we found it fit to donate and thank the beneficiaries as they are our clients,” she said.

Ms Mothibi said they deserve to have support to address the obstacles that could exist, solely on the basis of their disability, to prevent the enjoyment of opportunities that were available to others.

She said their donation was in line with one of the pillars of Vision 2016 and that they were responding to the President’s plea for companies to assist the less privileged. 

She called on the beneficiaries not to despair because they were capable to do anything, and advised them to utilise the skills they acquired from the centre to better their lives.

For his part, the acting executive director of TRC, Mr Sahai Buka appreciated contributions made by Dunns Store towards improving the lives of people living with disabilities. 

He said in the past years people living with disabilities were hidden at the back because families did not want to be associated with them.
He said the vision of the centre was to ensure that people living with disabilities live like anyone. 

“They should be able to access education, employment opportunities and also participate in community and political activities as any other member of the community,” he said 
Giving a brief history of the centre, Mr Buka explained that the centre started as a project for the Lutheran Evangelical Church in 1971 and that the church mission was to have a clinic and an adult education centre in Maun and Sehithwa.

In 1982, he said the missionaries working in the centre realised that there was no work for people living with disabilities in the North West District, and that they looked into the official statistics books and found that only a few were assisted.

Mr Buka revealed that a survey was conducted to find how many people living with disabilities were kept in homes. “What the missionaries discovered astonished them as they realised that a lot of people were hidden and not accessing any help. 

Out of an estimated number of 2 500 only 109 were getting services,” he said.

He said the missionaries mobilised funds and the centre was in operation in 1988.

 The centre grew over the years and the main activities included therapy and vocational training. For a period of two years, people were taught these skills and as a result, could make a living of their trade. ENDS